Experi[ence]ment

Waiting… oh so patiently

Posted on Wednesday, 23 February | Comments

I’ve been in need of a new laptop for about a year now but I’ve been riding out the rumor mill waiting for a new MacBook Pro redesign. All signs pointed to one coming by November but that didn’t exactly pan out. So I waited once again because I knew something based on Sandy Bridge had to be around the corner…

Fast-forward to today, rumor mill is at its peak again. And what does someone who has been waiting for a new laptop to get excited about for 12 months do?… SPECULATE!

So far we have a couple “confirmed” leaked photos of the supposed 13” Macbook Pro:

Photos courtesy these guys and this post

Ofcourse the first big surprise is Thunderbolt which is supposedly Apple’s version of Intel’s LightPeak technology. This is questionable for a few reasons. First, in the photos its packaged with the DisplayPort connector, which seems strange for a general purpose I/O connector, especially since I myself could image coming home and connecting my larger display and also wanting to plug in my external hard drive. Is Apple telling me they don’t think thats something their customers want to do? Second, there are no known devices or peripherals that use LightPeak today, so how would they really market or “wow” the listeners. I understand the need for a new I/O interface, but would general consumers? Also, why not go with a technology that has some products like USB 3.0? It seems unlikely that they would be able to move the industry to adopting their DisplayPort infused I/O interface. Apple pretty much has a stronghold on the MP3 player market largely because of the utility of their accessories and the ecosystem its created around the iPod. I doubt they don’t recognize this on their own. Finally, this would have to be the copper-based LightPeak, and if Apple really is willing to bet on LightPeak wouldn’t they want to wait for the optical transmission so they could really sell something that was novel and impressive? I’m more than a little doubtful.

I also don’t see why the display’s resolution would be a weak 1280x800. At this point even the 11” MacBook Air has a 1366x768 screen, so why lower the pixel density for the Macbook Pro line? If anything this sounds like a non Pro badge bearing product from this aspect alone. I’m not up on my graphics cards, but many people don’t seem to be impressed by the Intel Graphics HD 3000, but I say its reasonable considering the claim that this model would have a 12-hour battery. 

Just a couple more loose ends. Intel’s logo on the marketing material? That’s never been done before. Another detail I didn’t see anyone else discussing, where did the audio-in port go? Is Apple telling their Pro customers that having your own mic isn’t supported? I highly doubt there’s any real reason for excluding a tiny, cheap port like audio line-in from a Pro line laptop.

With Intel’s event tomorrow, it seems like we will find out whether this is real or not very soon. My overall guesstimate is that we have something more like a replacement for the regular Macbook line in our hands with the pictures. But then again, who am I to question the already “confirmed” news?

Backing up a Jailbroken iPhone [LIST]

Posted on Monday, 14 February | Comments

About to jailbreak your iPhone again to get the latest firmware? I’ve done this a couple times now and its starting to get annoying that as a jailbreaker (and unlocker) I have to reinstall everything. The good old warranty-safe iPhone users can pretty much count on clicking upgrade and not worrying much more.

Here is a list of steps I am taking to help get my phone back to exactly where I want it:

1. Update AppStore apps

2. Backup list of packages in Cydia using AptBackup

   This doesn’t actually make a backup of the installed package, but it saves a list so that its easy to restore all the installed packages.

3. Save any custom Sources or Packages

   In Cydia, go to Manage > Sources and write down any sources that are Entered by User (such as Hackulo.us) Also, if you installed any custom packages, make sure you have a copy of the .deb file on your computer.

4. Backup application data using AppBackup

   Note that some applications won’t backup app data. That’s okay but take a look at the list and be aware of which apps might need special attention at the end.

5. Sync with iTunes

   This will save the list of pacakges from AptBackup and the application data from AppBackup into your iTunes backup file, so make sure you let it do the backup!

   My iTunes settings and some suggestions for you to consider

   • No Address Book contacts nor any Calendars are synced. I use my Google account as my center point for contact and calendar data - every device directly syncs to this point and that ensures everything has the latest data, wirelessly. The iPhone supports this by allowing me to use my Google account as an Exchange account. I have it set to get Mail, Contacts, and Calendars via Push - very convenient.
   • Notes and Safari bookmarks are synced (even though I mainly browse with Chrome). The reason is that this is the only supported way to access this data - MobileSafari doesn’t allow for plugins like Delicious, Notes won’t upload to something like Evernote directly.
   • Apps, Music, Photos, Ringtones, and Books are all automatically synced because I consider these essential or small enough to not pay attention to size constraints.
   • Podcasts, iTunes U, Movies, and TV Shows are synched selectively, these can take some serious space and aren’t something I have to have on me at all times.

6. Jailbreak

   Find out which tool to use for your device and firmware version, then find a good set of instructions and get to it. I’ll be using these instructions for using the unofficial bundle to get an untethered jailbreak of my 3GS on 4.2.1.

7. Restore from backup

   Make sure as soon as the restore is done, you let iTunes restore from the last backup, so do not set it up as a new device.

8. Configure Cydia

   Launch Cydia and let it update the packages and sources. At this time you want to install AptBackup and put any custom sources back in, you could also install any custom packages from the .deb files.

9. Restore packages using AptBackup

10. Restore application data using AppBackup

    You should now have AppBackup on your homescreen after your restore from AptBackup, use this to put all the application data back. Remember any applications that did not backup might need to be set up again manually.

11. Verify all Accounts

    In “Settings > Mail, Calendars, and Contacts” you should already have all the accounts there, but it would be wise to check and make sure they are all downloading new data.

12. Verify 3rd Party Apps

    All you have left is to check some 3rd party apps to make sure things work smoothly. See if your Facebook account is logged in, check if you get Push messages from an app that uses them.

You should have everything right where you left off now. Some steps may have been unnecessary but I always think that its better to be safe than sorry, and to keep a way to get your data back, even if things go slightly wrong.

If you have any suggestions to make this process better, or general comments/questions, write a comment and I’ll keep updating this post.